Looking for a new spin on a familiar tale? Below are 100 young-adult (YA) novels featuring retellings of everything from classic fairy tales to beloved novels to popular movies.
*CCPL Staff picks are chosen by CCPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We’d love to hear your ideas too, so write to us and tell us what you’d recommend!*
Retellings of Fairy Tales, Folklore, Fables, & Legends
The Arabian Nights
- The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
“Beauty and the Beast”
- Beastly by Alex Flinn
- A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
- Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston
- Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
- Hunted by Meagan Spooner
“Cinderella”
- Cinderella Is Dead by Kaylnn Bayron
- Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
- Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly
- Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George
- Ash by Malinda Lo
- Cinder by Marissa Meyer
- Geekerella by Ashley Poston
“East of the Sun, West of the Moon”
- Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim (& Other Tales)
- Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer (Also “Beauty and the Beast”)
- East by Edith Pattou
“The Goose Girl”
- The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
- Thorn by Intisar Khanani
- Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
King Arthur
- Avalon High by Meg Cabot
- Once and Future by A. R. Capetta
- Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
- Izzy + Tristan by Shannon Dunlap (Tristan and Iseult)
- Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
- The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
King Midas
- A Touch of Gold by Annie Sullivan
“The Little Mermaid”
- Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
- To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
“The Princess and the Frog”
- Enchanted by Alethea Kontis
“Little Red Riding Hood”
- Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold
- Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George
- Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
“Rapunzel”
- Cress by Marissa Meyer
“The Red Shoes”
- Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore
“Robin Hood”
- The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell
- The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest by Melanie Dickerson (Also Swan Lake)
- Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen
- Hood by Jenny Elder Moke
- Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi
- Sherwood by Meagan Spooner
“Rumpelstiltskin”
- A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
- Gilded by Marissa Meyer
“Sleeping Beauty”
- The Healer’s Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
- A Kiss in Time by Alex Flinn
- Briar Girls by Rebecca Kim Wells
“The Snow Queen”
- The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
“Snow White and Rose Red”
- The Circus Rose by Betsy Cornwell
- Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
“The Twelve Dancing Princesses”
- House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
- Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
- Wildwood Dancing by Juliette Marillier
“The Wild Swans”
- Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (“The Wild Swans” and Others)
- A Rush of Wings by Laura Weymouth
Retellings of Novels and Movies
Alice in Wonderland Retellings
- A Blade So Black by L. L. McKinney
- Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Jane Austen Retellings
- Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta (Pride and Prejudice)
- Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass (Persuasion)
- The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne (Persuasion)
- Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg (Pride and Prejudice)
- For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund (Persuasion)
- Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price (Pride and Prejudice)
- Sense and Second Degree Murder by Tirzah Price (Sense and Sensibility)
- Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornberg (Sense and Sensibility)
- Fresh by Margot Wood (Emma)
- Pride by Ibi Zoboi (Pride and Prejudice)
Jane Eyre Retellings
- Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood
- My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton
- Jane by April Lindner
Edgar Allan Poe Retellings
- The Fall by Bethany Griffin (“The Fall of the House of Usher”)
- Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (“Masque of the Red Death”)
- The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis (“The Cask of Amontillado”)
Shakespeare Retellings
- Foul Is Fair by Hannah Capin (Macbeth)
- Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe (The Tempest)
- Roman + Jewel by Dana Davis (Romeo and Juliet)
- These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (Romeo and Juliet)
- Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E. K. Johnston (The Winter’s Tale)
- An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X. R. Pan (Romeo and Juliet)
Other Retellings
- Great by Sara Benincasa (The Great Gatsby)
- Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett (The Shop Around the Corner/You’ve Got Mail)
- My Fine Fellow by Jennieke Cohen (Pygmalion/My Fair Lady)
- Phantom Heart by Kelly Creagh (The Phantom of the Opera)
- The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant (Les Misérables)
- She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard (The Picture of Dorian Gray)
- RoseBlood by A. G. Howard (The Phantom of the Opera)
- Conversion by Katherine Howe (The Crucible)
- A Clash of Steel by C. B. Lee (Treasure Island)
- Anna K.: A Love Story by Jenny Lee (Anna Karenina)
- This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzie Lee (Frankenstein)
- Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu (The Outsiders)
- So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow (Little Women)
- This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel (Frankenstein)
- Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston (Anastasia)
- The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston (The Prince and the Pauper)
- Tell Me My Name by Amy Reed (The Great Gatsby)
- Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim (The Count of Monte Cristo)
- Lost in the Never Woods by Aiden Thomas (Peter Pan)
- Spin Me Right Round by David Valdes (Back to the Future)
- The Light Between Worlds by Laura Weymouth (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
